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Domino’s Leverages Social Media to Enhance Customer Engagement

Domino’s Pizza, a global leader in pizza delivery and digital ordering platforms, has enhanced its online ordering capabilities in recent years and also leverages social and owned media to spark customer engagement and brand loyalty.

For Domino’s officials, customer engagement is all about how quickly they can get customers what they want.

Loyalty360 talked to Steve Kennedy, Director of Loyalty at Domino’s, about the company’s use of social media and technology’s impact on its loyalty program.

Can you talk about how Domino’s leverages social and owned media to spark customer engagement/customer experience/brand loyalty?

Kennedy: We leverage social media to proactively and reactively engage with Domino’s loyalty members, whether they’re posting positive or negative remarks about the program. We view each opportunity as a chance to build better relationships with our members. Domino’s has a team of dedicated individuals who make sure that no member concern goes unattended. In addition to contacting and thanking loyalty members via social media, we also selectively reward some of our top-earning members.

What customer behavioral changes have you seen related to the Domino’s loyalty program and how have company officials leveraged those insights in a positive fashion?

Kennedy: We’ve witnessed increases in both behavioral and attitudinal brand loyalty resulting from Domino’s Piece of the Pie Rewards program. The resulting increased interactions and deeper relationships with our members continue to provide us with valuable insights about how to improve the brand experience for them.

What role does technology play in the company’s evolution connected to customer engagement/customer loyalty?

Kennedy: Leveraging technology to create a positive experience for users comes natural, as we often view ourselves as a technology company that sells pizza. Emphasis on technology helped the brand reach an estimated $5.6 billion in global digital sales in 2016, and has produced several innovative ordering platforms, including ordering Domino’s via Google Home, Facebook Messenger, Apple Watch, Amazon Alexa, Twitter and text. We integrated the loyalty program into each of the 15 ways customers can order (we call this AnyWare ordering) to ensure that we give our loyalty members the best experience possible.

The recipe for Domino’s digital-first rewards program is intentionally simple in design and use, resulting in deepened customer engagement through positive brand experiences. However, we know that some of our customers prefer to order in person or over the phone. Now everyone can earn points toward free pizza no matter how they choose to order, whether it's online, via our AnyWare ordering channels, phone or in-store.

What loyalty trends do you foresee in your industry for 2018?

Kennedy: Loyalty programs will continue to shift to personalized experiences–what is rewarding to one customer may be different to the next. Today’s technology and digital tracking abilities create big data that can be utilized to create and optimize these experiences.